19 London coffee companies who are rocking it with their logo design

Our passion for coffee is almost up there with our love of branding and design here at 99d, so we’re paying homage to London’s rich coffee scene. Here are some of the finest coffee roasters in the city, who are creating amazing brands while roasting their way into our hearts. We explain why we think they have created the perfect logos for their brands.

1. The Attendant

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The Attendant has chosen a letter mark as its logo which employs a minimalist design. Attendant is a coffee roastery, café, and kitchen and its goal is to bring back permaculture to the UK café scene. As it strives for self-sufficiency and sustainability, it makes sense to choose a simple and honest logo. The logo is simple in design and colour (a clean monochrome colour palette) yet it remains stylish; just like The Attendant.

A post shared by Attendant (@attendant_uk) on Aug 19, 2016 at 1:18am PDT

Let me share a bit about us and the brand ethos behind our logo.

The aim was to create a logo that embodies our values of simplicity, purity, quality and originality. The logo was designed to be very clean featuring a black circle with the letter “a” inside. The circle signifies unity and completeness which resonates with the purpose of the cafes existing to serve as the community cohesion space – a space to relax, be inspired and make new connections. The lack of sharp corners also evokes a sense of warmth and approachability.

The letter “a” is the first letter in our name and the first letter of the alphabet signifying beginning, origin -reflecting our ethos of creating our own, from food to roasted beans. The lower case letter has been chosen instead of the capital to highlight the unpretentiousness, the modesty of our culture.

– Olya Yartseva

2. Prufrock Coffee

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Prufrock Coffee is serious about its product and only employs genuinely knowledgeable coffee lovers who are keen to pass on their expertise. Despite its dedication to its craft, the team also likes fun, and this blend combines beautifully on its pictorial mark which features the company name on a playful logo which depicts coffee being poured from a container. It is unique, easy to remember and specifies what the company does. Nice job.

3. Notes

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Notes is a roastery that sells some of the world’s finest coffee and all the associated paraphernalia. It is truly a coffee lover’s paradise, but its simple word mark logo belies the complexity of its menu. Rather than opting for the most basic logo type, however, Notes had added a slanted ‘o’ to give the logo the same level of quirkiness as the brand. The ‘o’ is oblique and appears as if it is resting; a very neat use of typography from Notes.

Back in 2010 when we were first starting out on our journey, Notes was a little different. Our first location had been a CD shop, run by two of our founders. The original idea was to bring coffee and music together, and the name reflected this – musical notes, and tasting notes which we use to describe speciality coffee.

We wanted a simple logo, transferable across different media – signage, cups, bags. We didn’t want any of the cliched coffee symbols such as coffee beans or steaming cups so our designer came up with this clean logo, with the ‘o’ of Notes tilted to hint at our musical origins – like a semibreve. This also serves to create an informal and friendly persona, especially when coupled with the typeface.

The logo is adaptable to our different activities – in the shops the tagline is ‘Coffee Roasters & Wine Bar’ whereas the roastery use the shorter ‘Coffee Roasters’. My favourite manifestation is on our van where the logo is supersized, white on black and looks great delivering coffee all over London!

– Robert Robinson

4. Look Mum No Hands

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Look Mum No Hands is possibly one of the most unique stores in the whole of London, if not the world. When it opened, it combined a café, bar, bicycle workshop and exhibition spaces and referred to itself as a Cycle Café. You might expect such an unusual brand to go leftfield with its logo design but in reality, it has opted for a relatively simple pictorial mark; albeit a non-traditional one. The logo works nicely on any type of merchandise; coffee cups, pens, and bike accessories. As for the origins, the phrase ‘Look Mum No Hands’ is what kids shout at mum when they’re finally mastering the art of cycling!

One of my favourite parts of this job is explaining the name. It’s a phrase a lot of people connect to once they’re leaned to ride a bike. It’s a younger time, a simpler, fun time. We’re all about getting on your bike (whatever it may be) and having fun (whatever that may be for you). As always, we’re a cafe, a workshop, a bar. Everyone is welcome, even if you don’t ride a bike!

Founded in 2010 Look mum no hands! was a trailblazer combining a cafe, a bicycle workshop, a bar and an exhibition space to produce the first Cycle Cafe.

A passion for quality and friendly service guides all elements of the business. Baristas, mechanics and chefs can take care of almost any need Coffee comes from local roasters Square Mile, pies and cakes from nearby bakeries and craft beers from breweries in London and beyond. A packed program of exhibitions, film screenings, live cyclesport and even cycle speed dating ensure that LMNH is always buzzing with all the different elements of London’s cycle culture.

Kaffeine is an Australian style café with an exceptionally smart name. Its goal is simple; to provide excellent coffee, food, and service in a relaxing environment. It is only 3 minutes from Oxford Circus so with the immense level of competition it needs to stand out. Kaffeine has opted for a word mark logo which looks great in black, white or yellow against a suitable background. This versatility, along with the a name so closely connected to what they do, ensures Kaffeine is in the minds of Londoners in need of a quick caffeine fix!

6. Flat White

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Flat White is a smart coffee shop located in the heart of Soho. It was established to bring the artisan style coffee that is loved in New Zealand and Australia to London. As the name suggests, it specialises in the antipodean flat white coffee. Like an increasing number of cafes, it has decided on a mature word mark logo in a classic black and white colour scheme that happens to resemble its signature coffee. The logo also skilfully mixes sans-serif and serif fonts; they pull it off perfectly!

Taylor St. is on a mission to train people to become the best baristas in London. It also has several cafes dotted around the capital including shops in Mayfair and Canary Wharf. Whilst the word mark element of the logo uses a classic yet somehow modern font, the real masterstroke is the ‘latte art’ pictorial mark which resembles a leaf from a coffee plant. The symbol appears above the Taylor St. name but can also be used on its own. It is also a prime example of how to very adeptly use two different colours in a logo. The overall look and feel of the brand is pretty upmarket, but yet approachable. Very well played.

Brooklyn Coffee sees itself as more than just a coffee shop; it is a way to bring like-minded people together in a new and meaningful way. The café itself is highly polished and well curated, so it is hardly a surprise that its logo follows suit. It is a letter mark and consists of a ‘B’ with straight lines and flattened edges. It is a slick, modern and luxurious design that perfectly encapsulates what Brooklyn Coffee is all about.

9. Climpson & Sons

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Climpson & Sons refers to itself as ‘The Original East London Café’ and is a pioneer in the ever-evolving specialty coffee scene in London. Coffee is a serious business, so its choice of a word mark logo in black sans-serif font is apt. The result is a crisp, clear and futuristic logo which is ideal for a company that sees itself at the cutting edge of its niche.

We believe our logo has become a recognisable symbol for not only our coffee shop but our roastery as well. Our shop front has the original facade from when it was a butchers shop. We basically took over the name because we loved the logo so much!

Climpson & Sons Cafe is one of the original specialty coffee shops in East London. Climpson & Sons gained it’s first concrete home, after Ian Burgess saw the opportunity to grow from a market coffee cart, to a cafe in the centre of a thriving and vibrant community in 2005. Our café on Broadway Market offers a friendly and relaxed atmosphere for customers to enjoy an expertly curated coffee menu, roasted down the road.

We take our work pretty seriously; with an ever expanding range of brew methods out there, we are constantly searching for the best flavour profiles and extraction technique to understand how our roasts react in coffee-making equipment. Our sourcing philosophy is primarily directed at flavour and quality. Alongside which our ethos towards sustainability and ethical sourcing protocols ensure the coffees we roast and sell have not only have character but a transparent story. We reward quality by paying a higher price to the producer with the mindset of forming relationships year after year.

Our breakfast and lunch menu is baked in house, using produce that is sourced from local businesses, helping to sustain the community that surrounds the café.

Caravan Restaurants offers high-quality food in a prime location right behind the St Pancras and Kings Cross stations. It also provides freshly roasted coffee that can be delivered right to your door. Its logo is really quite interesting as they have managed to pull together a word mark, picture mark and emblem on one very neat combination. The sense of heritage comes through really well in this logo, with the use of the emblem, the “stamped” effect of this mark and also the use of the established date. In a city of ever-emerging coffee places, this sets up Caravan very nicely as one of the more long-standing coffee hangouts for many in The Big Smoke.

11. Lantana Café

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Lantana Café is a quirky company looking to bring the popular Australian Café culture to London like a number of its competitors. It tries to retain the ‘charming coffee shop’ feel and offers a familial atmosphere. This is emphasised in its handwritten logo which is a testament to the individuality of the café.

The Spoke is a locally owned café and attempts to tap into the ‘bike culture’ of London by ensuring it is bicycle friendly. As well as offering bike lovers a convenient place to eat, The Spoke offers high-quality coffee which is ideal for cyclists in need of a caffeine fix on their way to work. The logo is handwritten, which gives it a rather nice dynamic feel, and we love the ‘O’ in the middle which is designed to look like the wheel of a bike. This removes any doubt as to whether it is a café for cyclists.

13. Ginger & White

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Ginger & White tries to be unique in the London coffee scene by stitching together the best of Antipodean and British café culture. It offers classics like beans on toast along with freshly roasted coffee. It is a vibrant location, so it’s no surprise that Ginger & White has opted for a busy logo. It is a uniquely handwritten logo that combines word and picture marks to great effect. We like the crown in the middle which is almost certainly a nod to the café’s Britishness.

14. Artigiano

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Artigiano admits to being part of a ‘coffee cult,’ but it is also a bar that hosts live music in the evenings. This eclectic mix is beautifully portrayed in the company logo which consists of a word mark with a lining effect of the letters. It offers a ‘neon disco’ look which outlines the party atmosphere within the café.

The Beanberry Coffee Company offers the freshest produce imaginable. It roasts the coffee in small batches and ensures they are bagged within 24 hours. The company also sells tools to help customers brew the perfect cup of coffee. Its logo outlines Beanberry’s organic approach and consists of three trees with coffee beans as leaves in what is an intelligently crafted design. It emphasises the artisan nature of the business and gives the impression of a socially conscious enterprise.

16. The Wren

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The Wren is a coffee shop located within a church called St Nicholas Cole Abbey which serves coffee by London roasters Workshop, who are also next up on our list. The logo is a picture mark which illustrates the name perfectly and is wonderfully easy to read thanks to the space between the letters. The Wren is an important symbol in Christianity and this is artfully included in the logo.

17. Workshop Coffee

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Workshop Coffee specialises in Ethiopian coffee which is among the best tasting in the world. It also sells coffee tools to help you get the most out of your coffee at home. Workshop Coffee is yet another socially conscious, serious organisation and this can be seen in its logo design. Again, it skilfully combines picture and word marks in professional sans-serif font with two different typefaces.

18. TY

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TY fuses workspaces with a love for tea and coffee in a unique enterprise dedicated to bringing out the best in the most creative minds in London. You can work hard and then relax with freshly roasted tea or coffee and a selection of treats. Its cool logo design is a picture mark which features a building; this is a symbol of a co-working space and immediately lets you know what TY represents.

Ozone Coffee is a company that believes in building friendships. It was founded by three coffee loving ladies from New Zealand who have dedicated their lives to the art of great coffee while forging relationships with the people who make it all possible. Ozone has kept things simple with its logo design which consists of a word mark with a typeface with flattened arcs. The capital letters make it easy to read from a distance, and it looks really good on different sized backgrounds. Hats off guys.

The last sip…

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So you may have also noticed that black is the brand colour of choice for London coffee companies. You would think brown was the obvious choice for the colour palette of a coffee company, but the majority go with luxurious, modern slick black, often paired with classic white and a nice accent of blue, red or yellow to give a youthful or modern touch. Perfect for a young, vibrant but high-quality coffee brand. Get the colour psychology in your logo design correct and pick the logo type that suits you best and you’ll be onto a winner like these guys are.

The coffee industry has undergone quite a transformation within the last decade and coffee brands are defining their characteristics around a lifestyle and philosophy. These guys are really getting it right. Next time you’re in the city look out for their logos and swing by for an espresso. You won’t regret it.